On January 17, Ruan Jixiang, founder of Jack Holding Group and Chairman of Jack, attended the "Longpan - 2024 Asian Business University Annual Summit Forum" held in Hong Kong, China, and conducted a roundtable dialogue with four well-known entrepreneurs and experts on the challenges and opportunities of corporate succession in China.
Here are Ruan Jixiang's perspectives:
Host: Today we are discussing the challenges and opportunities of corporate succession in China. Two months ago, I hosted another roundtable discussion on the inheritance of family businesses in Japan. At the end, I invited two entrepreneurs who have inherited businesses for over 100 years to rank the importance of four types of inheritance: family business inheritance, family wealth inheritance, family harmony view inheritance, and family values, spirit, and social influence inheritance. Today, I would like to ask several guests which they think is the most important?
Ruan Jixiang: I believe that the inheritance of family businesses is the most important. As a family-owned listed company, the main controlling stake is in the hands of the family, so the idea of family members is very important. If during the transmission of the business, the successor family members cannot form effective synergy with the management team of the enterprise, it could lead to problems. Therefore, when inheriting the business, it is equally important to inherit the family spirit, philosophy, and culture.
Our family has established its own family rules, family precepts, and the mission of the family. In addition, based on our parents' experience in educating us, we have extracted a book called "The Heart of the Family." I have effectively combined hard and soft things to educate the next generation, and also integrated the core philosophy of enterprise operation. I believe this is a more effective way of inheriting.
Host: I believe that many entrepreneurs here are very interested in corporate succession and how to establish and cultivate successors. Ruan has a lot of insights and practices on inheritance. How do you cultivate successors?
Ruan Jixiang: In many family businesses, either the next generation takes over or a professional manager is hired for management. Through years of thinking and practice, as well as inspiration from Chinese history, I believe that forming an iron triangle for enterprise management and making joint decisions by the senior management team is a very effective way for family businesses to inherit. Family members can integrate into this team, but they are just one member of the team. We cannot rely on one person; we need a team to manage. In addition, effective supervision mechanisms for the board of directors and supervisory board can ensure effective transmission.
Host: What can you share about family values?
Ruan Jixiang: I believe it comes down to one word - filial piety. Filial piety not only advocated in China but also throughout the world. Filial piety is the first of all virtues, and filial piety is the foundation of morality. So how can we effectively combine filial piety with family philosophy? In 2015, we launched a filial piety card. Employees who have worked for five years will receive a monthly sum of 200 yuan on their parents' bank account, with 100 yuan contributed by the company and 100 yuan contributed by the employee. Of course, employees' filial piety is a prerequisite for enjoying the filial piety card. We have also established a filial piety charitable fund to help those in need throughout the entire sewing industry chain. Whether families are filial and harmonious is also a prerequisite for assistance.
My own family attaches great importance to filial piety, so I extend our family's filial culture to the inside of the enterprise and along the entire industry chain, continuously accumulating and forming a cultural source that extends from the family to the enterprise to the entire industry chain.
